Night was falling over the northern latitudes of Yiziba. As the lights in the cabin turned on to allow the people inside to see what was going on there, five figures stepped out of the structure and headed towards a worn-down path beat into the grass and dirt leading off to the north towards a rather large mountain. Leading the way was two of the best hunters alive. "Ya think it's safe to leave them all alone together like that?" Carcajou asked as she gazed on Wolverine. "All those girls…?"
"Nah, Ryū-chan, it'll be cool," Mustang said as he walked hand-in-hand with both Cremisi and Virago behind the two hunters. "One thing about Ataru you gotta remember: He HATES it when girls start fighting over him. They'll be alright."
"I'd feel a little more comfortable with Rémy and Anna stayin' close by," Wolverine stated. Rogue and Gambit had gone off to Habitation One on the southern shores of the polar continent — The people on this dirtball really ought to start thinkin' up of some decent NAMES for all these places! the X-Man mused to himself — so the former could get at all of Moroboshi Negako's notes to practice the Stone-Body Shield Defence manoeuvres to finally put a reign on her powers. The three girls from the Hinata-sō had gone off to the History Cave — the secret storage space prior incarnations of the Archaeologist had used to store artefacts from the almost-forgotten time in Yiziba's history before the Dawn of Power — so they could then port over to where the Weaponeer kept her equipment locker. "There still're enough hard-heads on this planet to cause real problems, especially with a normal girl like Shirayuki in range."
"Don't worry about it, Logan-san," Cremisi said with a grin. "Between Ayumu-chan, Luna-san, Haruhi-san and Chikage-san — and Madelyne-san, too! — anyone that touches a hair on Shirayuki-chan's head is going to be literally put through hell!"
"She's got a point," Carcajou said…and then she stopped, her nose twitching. "Oh, hell…" she moaned out. "Don't tell me someone followed us…!"
"HEY, LOGAN!"
Wolverine's head snapped up. "DEADPOOL?!"
Before a very slender form in a mostly red uniform with full hood could dive out of the evening sky to plunge a pair of machetes into the X-Man's shoulders, a red war hammer slammed into Wade Wilson's side to send him flying right into a thick tree that reminded the Terrans of a California redwood! As sickening cracks echoed through the evening air indicating that many bones in the mercenary's body had either shattered or just cracked from the harsh impact, Virago drew out her own swords — they were modified Chinese zhǎnmǎdāo built out of carbonised neutronium; after she had been Gifted, she had gone to the Weaponeer's old laboratory (which was open to the public) to forge them herself using the classical methods of her village — and she moved to put her back to Wolverine as he deployed his claws. Carcajou also splayed her claws as both Mustang and Cremisi elevated themselves into the air to be ready to dive-bomb on the so-called "Merc with a Mouth" in case he wanted some more…or had friends.
"Ow…that hurt…"
"It was supposed to hurt, Wilson!" Cremisi snarled. "What are you doing here?!"
Groaning, Deadpool dropped to the ground as his own healing factor — which was, in many ways, even more proficient than Wolverine's — kicked in. "Man, Akane…your 'love taps' really can clean a guy's head!" As he slowly picked himself back up again, he then focused his eyes on the young man floating beside the Hammer of Passion. "Eh?! RANMA?! Well, I'll be DAMNED! You got your Gift after all! Way to go!"
"What are you doing here, Wade?!" Wolverine snarled at his fellow Weapon X survivor. "How the hell did you GET here, anyway?! You don't have a spaceship!"
A laugh. "Hey, I got THIS instead!" Deadpool said as he pulled out a device about the size of a paperback novel, a glowing meson crystal on it. "Stole it from Liz Wakefield's lab one day a couple months before our brains got blanked out!" He then perked as something came to him. "Hey, how the hell did that happen, anyway?!"
"Master Wade, please answer Master Logan's question," Virago stated. "If you don't, I'm sure that Mistress Elizabeth's sister will want to talk to you!"
Deadpool laughed. "Hey, she's too busy…" He then stopped on feeling SOMETHING standing very close behind him. "She's standing right behind me, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Wolverine said, grinning.
"Wade…" a familiar voice then declared. "You stole from my SISTER?"
Gulping, he turned…to find himself gazing right into a mask of righteous female fury in a perfect size-6 body. "Um…I just b-b-borrowed it…"
Rampage's fist lashed out to catch Deadpool in the jaw, sending the poor mercenary flying straight into the sky. "Nice punch," Mustang critiqued.
"Still, we didn't get the question answered," Cremisi stated. "What the hell is THAT loon doing here? Did he hook up with some of the native heels?!"
"No, I don't think so, Akane," Rampage said as she picked up the dropped teleporting device. "Logan, catch!" she said as she tossed it to Wolverine.
The X-Man caught it and then held it close to his nose as he moved to trace the scents on it. "Okay, Deadpool…and…" His eyes then widened. "Oh, hell…"
"Who?!" Carcajou snarled.
"Deathstrike!" Wolverine hissed out.
"Oh?! Yuriko-chan's here?! Cool! It's be a good fight-scene for sure!"
"Tomo!" Wolverine snarled as Warwind soared down to join him. "This ain't a game, girl! If Yuriko's here, she's probably out to kill Ataru!"
Silence.
"Say WHAT?!" Carcajou barked out as everyone all glared at the X-Man.
"Why?!" Virago snapped.
A sigh. "First time I ran into Tomo and Yomi was in Canada when the Hulk was still goin' wild before he finally got his head put back together again thanks to Jess' sister and Hermione Granger! It was just right after Ayumu and Haruhi finally got rid of Galactus! Turns out that a part of the old Weapon X team was tryin' to start the whole damned mess all up again…"
Four years ago, shortly after Galactus' last visit to Earth…
"…these are your last days, Logan-san!"
A bound Wolverine — now in a preservation tank full of saline solution with a breathing mask secured over his face and various adamantium-augmented restraints on his arms to prevent him from deploying his claws and breaking free — growled as he glared at the daughter of the Yakuza oyabun from Ōsaka that had designed the bonding process that had made his skeleton virtually unbreakable by almost all known terrestrial needs. As the smiling Ōyama Yuriko (Lady Deathstrike) glared at him, she then tensed on hearing a door slide open nearby. Turning around, she then glared at Professor Phillip Thornton, the current manager of this surviving base for the Weapon X Project. "What are you doing here, Deathstrike?" the balding man in the smock then demanded. "I'm about to start Wolverine's reprogramming. You have no business being here now!"
"Wolverine must die!" the Japanese cyborg then hissed out.
"Enough!" the scientist stated. "He is of much greater use alive…!"
A shocked gasp escaped him as his back was ripped out by the giant hunter that came into the room after him. "Sorry, Prof," Victor Creed (Sabretooth) then declared. "But I gotta go with the lady on this one." He then smirked at Deathstrike…
…before something whizzed through the air, creating a sonic boom before it slammed into the former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants' member right through his chest and out the other side to nearly miss decapitating Deathstrike before shattering the hardened glass of the tank that was holding Wolverine. As warm water exploded over the Japanese woman's back while Sabretooth collapsed to the floor, his eyes turned down to gaze at the gaping hole in his body, a voice then called out, "That was too much!"
Deathstrike turned to look…
…and then her jaw dropped in shock on seeing two black-clad CHILDREN standing at the doorway to this laboratory. Noting both of them were Japanese, the Yakuza oyabun's daughter tried to recall where she had seen them before…just as a loud thump from behind her made her spin around before Wolverine's fist smashed into her jaw and send her flying over the fallen Sabretooth to crash into a wall. As the Canadian hunter moved to rip off the mask over his face and yank off the other restraints, the girl with the goggles over her eyes then turned to her friend. "Don't you think that was just a little too harsh, Warwind?! You could've ripped his heart out!"
"Oh, don't worry about it, Searcher-chan!" the other girl — who was in a one-piece swimsuit like uniform with long gloves and thigh-high boots on her — said as she walked towards Wolverine to help him back to his feet. "He'll heal!"
As Warwind came closer, a growling Sabretooth — fortunately for him, the man born Victor Creed hadn't got his heart or aorta, to say anything of his spine, torn out by the metal pipe that had punched through him — spun around with his fist to aim right for the girl's cheek. Said punch landed on target…which only served to shatter every bone in the man's hand and lower arm while the young metahuman twelve year-old barely shook from the blow! As Sabretooth screamed out, the woman born Takino Tomo turned to gaze on him. "Was that supposed to be a punch?" she wondered…
…before her own fist snapped around in a blur to catch Sabretooth in the jaw, sending the taller man flying right into the roof and THROUGH it with the force of a runaway Shin-kansen train! As Wolverine winced on seeing that — much that he hated the blond nearly-feral mutant who had killed his lover, the Blackfoot warrior-woman known as Silver Fox, seeing Creed bashed down like THAT chilled him to the core — Warwind sighed as she gazed on the X-Men. "Well, since you're kinda free now, Logan-kun, we'll get you out of here and get you clothes," the young Tōkyō girl said. "No sense going out there in just your underwear! Don't worry about Hulk-chan, though!"
Suddenly, a roar of primal fury echoed through the base. "Looks like Infinity just woke Hulk-kun up," Soul Searcher stated. "Don't think those other two creeps'll like that." She then barked out, "OI! ŌSAKA! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!"
Wolverine blinked. "'Ōsaka'…?!"
A flash of energy later produced another girl the same age as the two who had come to rescue him, though she was dressed in a VERY familiar grey uniform with a white lemniscate symbol on her chest. "Hey, Yomi-chan! Tomo-chan!" She then smiled. "Ah! Logan-kun! There you are!" And with that, she snapped her fingers.
A flash of light flooded around Wolverine, which soon faded, revealing the X-Man back in his uniform. Looking at himself, he blinked before gazing up at the young girl who had somehow found a way to make GALACTUS leave Earth alone. "Um…thanks!" he then said in Japanese before he blinked. "Your name is 'Ōsaka?!'"
"No, she's actually Kasuga Ayumu. She's FROM Ōsaka," Soul Searcher said before she winced as the base suddenly shook. "Boy, he's angry! Isn't he?!"
"Can I beat him up?!" Warwind then pleaded.
The telepath from Tōkyō whipped around to backhand the passion fighter…which, much to Wolverine's total shock, sent Warwind crashing into a nearby tank, destroying it. "What the fuckin' HELL?!" the Canadian gasped, stunned that a girl that had managed to nearly pound SABRETOOTH into road-kill had been knocked out like THAT!
"Gee, Yomi-chan," Infinity said. "You're being rough, aren'tcha?"
"What do you expect, Ayumu-chan?!" Soul Searcher replied as she glared at the Kansai native. "Hulk-kun's in a bad enough mood after his other-self got nearly ripped apart by the idiots here…and it was all to make another stupid brain-dead soldier for heels to use! Keeping Tomo on a leash is hard enough for me at times! I'm not as in full control of myself as I'd like to be! Give me a few years, for Buddha's sake!"
"Who are you…?" a shuddering voice demanded.
Both Japanese girls turned to look…and then Infinity whooped. "Hey, Yomi-chan! Look! We even found a pretty girl for Ataru-kun! Isn't that great?!"
Both Wolverine and Deathstrike jolted on hearing that statement — the latter trying not to blush on being called "pretty" even if she had been addressed as such by a pair of young GIRLS; she had long stopped caring about her physical looks — another sharp jolt shook the whole building around them as a roar of anger echoed from the main doorway. A second later, a form in solid red was hurtled through the doorway to crash into a nearby wall…just as a raging green giant stormed into the room.
"HULK SMASH CLAW PEOPLE!" the transformed Robert Bruce Banner snarled out…
…and then stopped as Infinity appeared before him, her hand held out. "No, Hulk-chan!" the young Goddess Who Walks Amongst Men said. "You smashed them already!"
The Hulk blinked. "Grey Girl?! Mind Girl?! Why Wild Girl sleeping?!" he then said in his pidgin child-like English before he turned to gaze on Wolverine, his green eyes then flashing in recognition. "Little Man…!" he then growled out as his body tensed…and then he saw the adult woman in the room. "Ugly Girl, too…?!"
"Hulk-chan!"
He jolted before glaring at Infinity, who was shaking her head. "You better wake your friend up, kid!" Wolverine said as he nodded to the still-unconscious Warwind. "If you wanna make sure Yuriko-chan there gets to Yiziba with her hide intact, you'll need her to keep Hulk there calmed down, especially after what they did to him!"
Deathstrike jolted. "What do you mean, Logan-san?!" she hissed.
He smirked. "Don't you recognise one of the Teens That Saved Earth?" he said as he pointed at Infinity, who had drifted over to sit herself on Hulk's shoulder as Soul Searcher walked over to stand close to the green-skinned giant. "They got their powers thanks to a guy from Japan named Moroboshi Ataru; he's the last host of the Saikō Jinseijutsu!" As the Yakuza oyabun's daughter gasped, he added, "He's been runnin' around for the last few years helpin' girls all over Earth get superpowers from this planet called Yiziba! Just like what happened to you thanks to that Spiral chick from Longshot's universe…but you don't get your body mutilated along the way!"
"Oh, yeah!" Infinity said. "You won't need those cybernetics anymore once you get to the Crystal and get your Gift, Yuriko-chan! You'll love it!"
Silence.
"Wh-wh-what…?" a pale-faced Deathstrike gasped.
"Oh, don't worry about it!" Infinity said. "It won't hurt you!"
"NEVER!"
And with a scream, she leapt at the younger girl, her claws splayed…
…before a big green hand snared her by the throat and flung her right against a wall! As Deathstrike sank once more to the ground dazed, a howling roar nearly shattered Wolverine's eardrums. "Ugly Girl try to hurt Hulk's friend?!" the Hulk snarled as he lifted Infinity off his shoulders. "HULK SMASH UGLY GIRL!"
As the Hulk charged — with Infinity trying to calm him down and Soul Searcher shaking her head — Wolverine tried not to smirk. "Well, I tried, kid…"
"Well, Ataru's been refused before," Mustang noted.
"Yeah! But after Banner nearly pounded her into road-kill, Ōyama vowed she'd do anything to try to find some way to get Ataru before he got her!" Wolverine said.
"Why'd she get cybernetics anyway?!" Carcajou demanded.
"Ever hear of Spiral, Ryū?"
The others perked. "Spiral?!" Rampage demanded, and then her blue eyes widened. "Oh, right! That six-armed girl who can teleport between dimensions! She's from that dimension where that really gorgeous Longshot guy lives, right?!"
"Oh, yeah! I remember him!" Warwind said. "Those dorky spineless sames that run that universe tried to provoke a fight-scene with our past selves some decades ago! Boy, beating up on them was like beating up on a bunch of dumb animals!" She then smirked. "Still, I do remember that all the girls that were there at the time were all over this one guy! Blond with a glowing left eye…" She blinked. "Who was he?"
Wolverine chuckled. "That's Longshot."
"I remember that," Cremisi said. "He kinda reminds me of you, Ranma!" she then noted as she gazed on her fiancé before she sighed. "So, why would…?!"
A distant feminine shriek echoed through the woods. "Oh, crap…!" Wolverine moaned as he turned to look up the mountain where they were going. "Deathstrike…!"
Suddenly, a loud BANG! echoed through the forest. "Hey! It's a fight-scene! C'mon!" Warwind screamed out as she soared off up the mountain.
The others quickly raced off after her…
For the woman born Ōyama Yuriko, she was in pain.
A LOT of pain.
As the hulking male in the skin-tight jumpsuit — she hadn't got his battle-name when he chanced upon her, then attacked when she tried to brush him off — slowly advanced towards her, the Ōsaka-born cyborg tried to ignore the torrent of damage reports flooding her brain's housekeeping node from her wrecked limbs. Realising that actually agreeing to that mad fool Wilson's idea of actually COMING to this strange planet to locate the Moroboshi boy might see her either permanently crippled or DEAD, Deathstrike tried to crawl back onto her elbows and knees — her attacker had virtually crushed her lower arms and ripped off one hand — a big hand then grabbed her by her long hair and pulled her off the ground to make her stare into a very fleshy face that reminded her a lot of the transformed Bruce Banner…save for the lecherous look there.
"I like it when skirts like you fight back," he said with a chuckle.
Before he could reach up and rip off her top to expose her body, a voice then said, "Excuse me. But you clearly need to learn how to behave around pretty ladies."
Deathstrike blinked…before her eyes went wide as a burning KATANA blade punched through her would-be rapist's head. Shock crossed his face before all emotions then faded, and then he dropped straight down to the ground, letting the wounded cyborg drop at the same time. Before she could collapse and hit her head on something hard, two warm hands caught her and pulled her into the arms of another man, one younger and more normal-sized than the man who had tried to rape her…and as her dark eyes focused on his face, she was quick to note he was JAPANESE as well. "Who…?"
He hushed her. "You're hurt," he said in a tender voice. "Just relax."
She blinked, and then slowly nodded as he shifted her closer to him, thus allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered.
And with that, he leapt off into the sky, soaring towards the nearby mountain. Seconds later, a woman in a black one-piece bodysuit with long boots and gloves landed on the ground, and then she stopped to look around. She was quick to notice the fallen giant nearby. "Who…?" Warwind demanded as she walked over, leaning down to flip the body onto its back so she could see his face. She then scowled. "Violator?!"
"What happened to him?!" a voice then demanded.
Warwind turned as Rampage came down to join her. "Don't know! Just found him this way," the Tōkyō-born fighter stated as she turned away from her friend from California and then she reached over to the giant's neck to feel his pulse. "Damn! Dead…"
"Soulsword."
Both turned as Mustang and Cremisi came down, they carrying Wolverine, Carcajou and Virago. "You sure about that, Ranma?" Rampage then demanded.
A nod. "You can feel the anti-ki energy around him now, Jess. Only a soulsword can do that," the man born Saotome Ranma reported. "And there are only three people on this planet that can do that. One's actually on Earth now. One's at the cabin…"
"And the last one was just here now with Deathstrike," Wolverine said as he sniffed the air. "So who the hell is — pardon me, WAS! — this clown?"
"The Violator, Master Logan," Virago said, the disgust she felt at even SPEAKING of such a vile male quite apparent for all to see. "A typical FISS-type…but one of the few who actually LIKED being with women in an intimate way."
"Though he went WAY overboard when he hits on a girl," Cremisi added.
Wolverine scowled. "Rapist, huh?"
"Pretty much so. Even if, in previous times, there were girls that were so desperate for kids, they didn't mind a rape-scene," Rampage stated. "No great loss."
"What does a soulsword do, anyway?" Carcajou asked.
"Rips your very soul out of your body, Ryū-chan," Mustang explained. "If you're not mentally strong enough, that guarantees you'll die. Psis and magicals can resist dying, but they'd be stuck in astral forms until someone can fix them up. For this clown, that means that his Gift won't be returned back to the Crystal to get recycled. He's permanently gone."
"Like you said, Jess: No great loss," Warwind stated.
"Just leave the body here. The bone-sharks will eat it," Cremisi stated. "Let's go find Ataru."
And with that, they headed off while we…
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(Posted Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:59)
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